Members

Notice of Privacy Practices

Community Care, Inc./Community Care Health Plan, Inc.
(Community Care)
205 Bishops Way
Brookfield, WI 53005

www.communitycareinc.org

The Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) is a federal law that requires that all medical records and other individually identifiable health information used or disclosed by Community Care in any form, are kept properly confidential. Recent changes to HIPAA give you significant new rights to understand and control how your health information is used.

As required by HIPAA, this notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Your Rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of Community Care’s responsibilities to help you. You have the right to:

Get a copy of health and claims records

  • You can ask to see or get a copy of the health and claims records and other health information we have about you.
  • We will provide a copy or a summary of your health and claims records, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct health and claims records

  • You can ask us to correct your health and claims records if you think they are incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
  • We are not required to agree to the change you have requested and may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

  • You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
  • We will consider all reasonable requests, and must say “yes” if you tell us you would be in danger if we do not honor your request.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

  • You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations.
  • We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.

Get a list of those with whom we have shared information

  • You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we have shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
  • We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We will provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

  • You can ask for a copy of this notice at any time. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Choose someone to act for you

  • If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
  • We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

  • You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us. Our contact information can be found at the end of this notice.
  • You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
  • We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

  • Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in payment for your care
  • Share information in a disaster relief situation

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

Our Uses and Disclosures

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways:

To help manage the health care treatment you receive

  • We can use your health information and share it with professionals who are treating you. Treatment means providing, coordinating, or managing your health care and related services.

Example: A doctor sends us information about your diagnosis and treatment plan so we can arrange additional services.

To run our organization

  • We can use and disclose your information to operate our organization and contact you when necessary. This includes the business aspects of running our health plan, such as conducting quality assessment and improvement activities, auditing, budgeting and customer service.

    Example: We use health information about you to develop better services for you.

To pay for your health services

  • We can use and disclose your health information as we pay for your health services. Payment means such activities as reimbursing providers for services, confirming eligibility, billing or collection activities and utilization review.
  • Example: We process a claim and pay a provider for an office visit.
How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. We may also create and distribute de-identified health information by removing all references to individually identifiable information.

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

  • Preventing disease
  • Helping with product recalls
  • Reporting adverse reactions to medications
  • Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
  • Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research

We can use or share your information for health research if you give us written permission or if all references to your individually identifiable information have been removed.

Comply with the law

  • We can share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including sharing your information with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.
  • We participate with the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network (WISHIN).WISHIN allows us to share your health information with your doctors and other providers. This helps all of your caregivers work together more easily, make better decisions about your care and reduce mistakes or duplication of tests and procedures.
  • WISHIN  protects the privacy and security of your records according to HIPAA. Only your caregivers are able to view your health information when they need it to care for you.  Logs and other security measures track who has reviewed your records and when they did so.
  • You can opt out of continued participation in WISHIN. Contact your care team if you want to opt out, and they will help you.  WISHIN will confirm your request  in writing.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests and work with a medical examiner or funeral director

  • We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
  • We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

  • For workers’ compensation claims
  • For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
  • With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
  • For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services
  • Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
  • We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Our Responsibilities

  • We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
  • We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
  • We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
  • We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you give us written permission. You may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.
  • We will not sell your health information.
  • We will not share your psychiatric, substance abuse and HIV-related information without your written permission except when permitted by law.
  • We will abide by all applicable state and federal laws. There may be state and federal laws that have more requirements than HIPAA on how we use and disclose your health information. If there are specific, more restrictive requirements, even for some of the purposes listed above, we may not disclose your health information without your written permission.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request and on our web site. We will provide you with a copy of the revised notice within 60 days of the change.

This notice is effective as of November, 2013.

Please contact us for more information:
Community Care, Inc./Community Care Health Plan, Inc.
Compliance Officer
205 Bishops Way
Brookfield, WI 53005

Phone: (414) 231-4000
Email: [email protected]
Compliance Hotline: (262) 207-9440

 

 

 

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